Ammonia Concerns

[nicktrubilla]

Today is day 15 of having a 20 gallon tank. I set it up in accordance with common cycling knowledge and maintained it correctly. After a two days, I cycled it with the help of two guppies that are still alive and healthy now. When my water and filter was established, I added two mollies. At one point, I would say about four days ago, I had readings of 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and a little bit of nitrate so I assumed it was successfully cycled and carried out my first partial water change. Following this I had an ammonia reading of .25 ppm and it has persisted. I'm aware that any ammonia is an issue, but I'm just curious how this happened. I just want to make sure my new dwarf blue gourami is healthy and happy. By the way, I test my water with the API master kit.

 

[jlk]

If this tank has only been setup for 2wks, you are have a ways to go before it will be fully cycled. Based on your ammonia reading, its just starting the cycling process. Test your water daily & invest in a good water conditioner such as Prime for water changes. Please read the link below & ask any questions you may have!

I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?! - Aquarium Advice

 

[librarygirl]

In addition to what JLK said, you might want to test your tap water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate as well.

Here's a general guide to aquariums as well: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/

 

[nicktrubilla]

Well I've been using API Stress Coat+and Tetra EasyBalance plus to treat the water, the Stress Coat + is supposed to remove the chlorine and heavy metals from my tap water. I understand that based on my ammonia reading you think my tank is just starting to cycle, but I don't think that is the case because I had a 0 reading of ammonia after I had two guppies in there for a week. The water change somehow introduced ammonia immediately. Let me know what you guys think. I've also just noticed that my mystery snail has started floating. I touched its foot and it moved so it's alive, should I be concerned or is that something that happens?

 

[jlk]

Test your tap water for ammonia, nitrite & nitrate as Librarygirl suggested. If you never saw ammonia readings from adding two guppies, its likely because they were not sufficient to add a detectable amount of ammonia. As you have added more fish, the bioload has increased and you are now seeing ammonia. Your tank is just beginning the cycling process.

 

[librarygirl]

+1 to Jlk. Two guppies in a 20 gal would take a bit of time to increase ammonia enough to detect on a kit. Mollys however are messy and are adding to the bioload quite a bit which is why you're now seeing ammonia. Unless you used a lot of media from an established tank there's no way the tank would be fully cycled in a week wtih two guppies. Sorry. Read the link Jlk above posted.....lots of testing and water changes in your near future.

 

[nicktrubilla]

No you don't understand, I had an ammonia reading with the guppies, and then it went down to zero when I had my nitrite spike, which went down to zero after that. I understand it takes time, but obviously bacteria in my tank was handling the ammonia. I added two mollies with those guppies, and I still had 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and some nitrate so the bacteria was still working. I did a 15% water change and the ammonia went up and is still up at .25ppm. Having four fish in a tank for about a week would obviously produce ammonia. It wasn't until after my water change did it go up. I understand if there's ammonia in my water that would introduce it, by if I dechlorinated it before I added the 15% back into the tank, why would it affect that bacteria that were already working for me? The whole time I've been adding stress zyme to it which must have SOME impact. I don't mean to be combative, I just want to take care of my animals to the best of my ability.

Edit: Just tested the tap water, 0 ammonia and nitrite, 5 ppm nitrate.

 

[Mrs.h2012]

I don't see how your tank could have cycled that quickly unless you used seeded media of some sort (filter cartridges, floss, gravel or plants from an established tank).... Sorry :/ I'm in my 4th week of a fish in cycle using no seeded media at all, just starting from scratch, with two platys in a 10g and I JUST saw a nitrite trace appear last night, I do daily water tests unless I have a really busy day and on those days I do one test, And had been doing WC's once a day, sometimes daily to keep ammonia in check. Are you sure your tap doesn't have ammonia in it? If you can't figure the source of ammonia out just yet, you will just have to perform WC's as needed to keep
Levels in check.

 

[Mrs.h2012]

Mollies are really messy fish, along with platys. They produce a lot of waste. I would say your still seeing ammonia even after a WC is because you added the the two mollies, which makes double the waste on top of them being messy as they are already.

 

[jetajockey]

No you don't understand, I had an ammonia reading with the guppies, and then it went down to zero when I had my nitrite spike, which went down to zero after that. I understand it takes time, but obviously bacteria in my tank was handling the ammonia. I added two mollies with those guppies, and I still had 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and some nitrate so the bacteria was still working. I did a 15% water change and the ammonia went up and is still up at .25ppm. Having four fish in a tank for about a week would obviously produce ammonia. It wasn't until after my water change did it go up. I understand if there's ammonia in my water that would introduce it, by if I dechlorinated it before I added the 15% back into the tank, why would it affect that bacteria that were already working for me? The whole time I've been adding stress zyme to it which must have SOME impact. I don't mean to be combative, I just want to take care of my animals to the best of my ability.

Edit: Just tested the tap water, 0 ammonia and nitrite, 5 ppm nitrate.

The addition of Stress Zyme could've been the culprit. Some of the bacteria supplements introduce a type of heterotrophic bacteria that will convert ammonia/nitrite, but the problem is that they don't usually sustain themselves in the system. So what happens is you get these great 'cycled' readings for a few days/weeks then after they die off, if the natural bacteria colony hasn't been established, you'll get the spikes all over again.

 

[nicktrubilla]

Sorry to say, I've lost three fish. My gourami and two original guppies are still hanging in there. I don't know about my remaining Molly. I'm doing WCs to try and keep them alive. I must have made a mistake somewhere, but I tried my very best. Wish me luck.

 

[nicktrubilla]

Actually wait on that last post... one of the guppies I was forced to take out of the tank had white spots on its lips and tail, is that an infection that's plaguing my tank? The molly I had that died was also turning white in some spots (it was black). Is that ammonia damage or an infection?

 

[Mrs.h2012]

I believe that's ICH. I dont know a lot about it, hopefully someone else will chime in and be able to tell you more.

 

[jetajockey]

I wouldn't treat for anything till you are absolutely certain of what the issue is. The problem is that in a new-ish tank the fish get stressed from high toxin levels and the stress weakens them to where they can show/succumb to a myriad of different symptoms. So in trying to deal with these symptoms you could be chasing a phantom problem.

As the tank gets established, if the problem is still progressing, it's not a bad idea to try to figure out what course of action to take, but often times medicating can do more harm than good if you aren't sure about what you are getting into.

 

[nicktrubilla]

I understand. I'm finishing up my water change for the day, I would say I changed around 12 gallons or so (20 gallon tank). The guppies seem to be doing a lot better after the water changes. My gourami is still the same, hovering near the surface. I won't medicate for any problem, I think my tank couldn't handle it anyway. I'm thinking I just keep doing water changes. I have a possible solution in mind. My friend has a well-established tank with no diseases. Should I ask him for some filter media to add to my filter? Maybe it could speed along this process and save my fish. I know this is like my 10th post but today was a nightmare for a new fish owner!!

 

[Mrs.h2012]

I don't know about it helping whatever is wrong in the tank, whether it be disease or something else, but getting seeded media from a healthy well established tank will definitely help move your cycle along much quicker for sure!

 

[nicktrubilla]

Thanks for everyones help today. Everything seems to have gone back to semi-normal. Hopefully with daily water changes I can get this tank to rebound without starting from scratch again. If you have any advice for me, I'd appreciate a private message with your tips. Thanks again.

 

[Mrs.h2012]

Really all you can do for your fishies sake is to test water daily and do wc's whenever your levels are unsafe for your fish. Hopefully if you can get some seeded media from your friend that will help move your cycle along and get your tank closer to being healthy for your fishies!

 

[nicktrubilla]

Figured it all out

The fish that died were sick Petsmart fish. They infected my mollys which died. This was possible because I was neglecting to test my pH, because I was focusing on the Ammonia problem. When I did the water changes to fix the Ammonia, I didn't know about letting water sit aerated before changing it into the tank so it gave me false pH numbers. The pH problem was addressed with small doses of baking soda, and a few oyster shells to buffer the tank. I also seeded the tank with material from my friend's parents tank (they use a UV sterilizer and have an immaculate guppy/gourami tank). I'm slowly incorporating a measured amount of sea salt into the tank for electrolytes and I've introduced a big airstone to oxygenate the tank. It was all a complicated mess due to inexperience, but it's since been resolved. Thanks everyone!